Fisticuffs
by Dingbats and Dweebs
Summary: An attempt to fill out the relationship the game so poorly explained. FemShep/Traynor pre-relationship fluff. Chapter 1: It's not everyday Sam has to work in the hangar, but she's certainly glad she's present when Shepard and Williams show up for a friendly brawl. Chapter 2: Another mission has gone awry, but can our favortie Specialist save the day? Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**A/N **I swear I was working diligently on my 100 drabble challenge, but then David Guetta's 'She Wolf' started playing and for some reason that song gives me major FemShep/Traynor feels.

Anywho I saw the prompt for this fic while I was digging through kinkmeme one day and wanted to give it a go. It takes place after Cerberus' coup attempt and before the shower scene.

P.S. This is a different Shepard from my other fic. Her name is Allie and she's an Earthborn, Sole Survivor/War Hero (I like to believe all Sheps can have both backgrounds), and a Sentinel (though I blur classification lines a lot)

Off we go!

**Spoilers: **Mass Effect 1,2, and 3

* * *

**Fistfight**

"Aha! Got it." Sam's cry was triumphant as she pried off the access panel to the Kodiak's comm. channel. Reaching in she gently released the clasps holding the blue box in place and pulled it loose. "Can you hand me the alan wrench? I need to get this case off."

"Do you think the circuit board took any fire, or did we luck out?" Cortez's shadow invaded the small cubbyhole she had crawled into, arm bumping into her thigh as he handed her the requested tool. "Sorry 'bout that."

The specialist shrugged her shoulders as much as the tight space allowed. "Don't worry about it, its not like there's any extra room in here." _Or like you meant anything by it. _She added mentally. Twisting her arm awkwardly she managed to bring the wrench around the back of the box and began unscrewing the fastenings keeping it connected to the ship. Her wriggling jolted a few of the vent panels, a cloud of dirt puffing out from the cracks. With no way to maneuver into fresh air, Traynor coughed as the dust invaded her airways. "Damnit, I think I found our problem." She rushed to disconnect the last few wires before her lungs fully rebelled. "Aren't you supposed to be cleaning this thing on a regular basis?"

Cortez let out a guilty chuckle. " I run maintenance after every mission, but some of those corners are hard to get into. I don't really have the time to be constantly ripping her open." Hearing an increase in coughing, he patted the leg sticking out of the opening. "You okay?"

Sam grit her teeth as she fought with the final wire, tears already beginning to streak down her face. "Lets just say microscopic particles from alien worlds and I don't exactly get along." Throat constricting, she was relieved when the box was finally freed, and she quickly squirmed out of the shuttle. Once outside she paused for a moment, leaning back against the metal frame and sitting very still while gulping in fresh air.

Cortez kneeled down next to her, brow furrowing in concern. "Should I go get the Doc?"

Sam shook her head, she was feeling better with every inhale and didn't want to cause a fuss if she could avoid it. "I'll be alright," her voice sounded slightly raw, " I just got caught off guard. Next time you need me to go crawling through your deathtrap of a ship to fix something I'll be sure to bring a face mask." A nudge in the ribs let him know she was joking, and he met her smile with his own.

Rising he offered a hand that she gratefully took. Walking over to the nearby workstation she set the box down and switched on a lamp. One look inside confirmed her suspicion; the entire circuit board was covered in grime. She sighed; this was going to take a while to clean out. Curious, Cortez peeked over her shoulder. "So what's the diagnosis?"

"From what I can see I'm fairly certain all the circuit board needs is a good scrubbing. I think a hole got punched somewhere in the cover panels and those dust storms on Tuchanka did the rest." She started to disassemble the board, carefully pulling all the connectors free.

"I did have to patch one of the rear guards, that must have been it." The flight lieutenant nodded in agreement. "And with the exit sealed off the dirt got pulled into the communications network while we were flying around the Citadel."

"Exactly. Fortunately it's an easy fix, if a bit tedious." Rummaging through her tool kit she pulled out the mini-bellows and used the air stream to dislodge the looser particles.

" Well I'll leave you to it, I'm going take this opportunity to clean out the interior while its open." Sam hummed softly in response, already engrossed in her task. As much as she hated dust, cleaning was one of her specialties and she was glad to see any of her skills coming to use. Despite all comments to the contrary she still felt out of place aboard the Normandy. The ship was jammed packed with legendary heroes, each going about impossible tasks like they were everyday chores. Sure she wasn't the only newbie around, but her analyzing abilities paled in comparison to Cortez's flying experience, or Vega's fighting prowess. Then there was the matter of Commander Shepard, or, more specifically, Sam's feelings for her.

It really wasn't a surprise she had a bit of a crush on the commander, especially after the Collector attack on Horizon. However, she was worried at the rate that her feelings were developing. What had started out as a simple fascination was quickly turning into a full-blown infatuation. Sam had figured out what was happening early on and was doing her best to shove those emotions done and out an airlock. Shepard was her commanding officer, it didn't matter how clever, funny, beautiful, or alluring she found the N7; any relationship between them would be against regulations. And that was assuming she'd be interesting in a bumbling comm. specialist anyway.

When Sam had felt the first stirrings of attraction she had made a not so subtle inquiry into the commander's personal life. Joker had caught onto her instantly, immediately launching into several embarrassing questions; the worst being the shouted '_Can I watch?_' as she had fled the cockpit. Mortified, she had avoided talking to any of the crew for several days after. Then, one morning, her self-imposed isolation ended when she looked up from her work console to find the Normandy's resident information broker standing next to her.

Liara had been blunt and to the point, wasting no time in explaining to Traynor the reason behind her visit. The maiden had heard about her attempts to learn more about the commander and wanted to warn the specialist before she went to far. Apparently the archaeologist had learned the hard way that Shepard hated it when people went snooping around for information on her. _"If you have any questions about her, it'd best if you just ask her yourself. Otherwise she's likely to become irritated at you." _She had said. _"I know she's quite intimidating, but I've yet to hear of her turning down a crewmate that wanted to talk." _

Sam had nodded her head mutely, and Liara had given her an understanding smile. Sometimes something as simple as 'just talking' was incredibly complicated. They had chatted for a few more moments, and just before she left Liara had taken some pity on the sullen human. _"As for your earlier investigation, I know the Commander is not currently involved with anyone." _Walking away, the asari winked over her shoulder. _"Any other details you'll just have to work out for yourself." _

Sam snorted, earning a confused glance from Cortez. Waving him off, she set aside the bellows and went to work with the polisher, gently scraping away the gunk still stuck to the resistors. She had been trying to talk to the commander, but somehow their conversation topics always ended up being about her. Shepard was a master of deflection. She deftly skirted around her own past and conned Sam into talking more about her time in R&D before the specialist could think twice about it. A big part of Sam desperately wanted to rise to the challenge of winning over the mysterious woman, but she was doing her best to stamp it out. She was serving on a frontline ship in the middle of the worst invasion this galaxy had ever seen, now was not the time to pull stunts like she had back in Uni.

The sound of the elevator stopping behind her snapped her from her thoughts. Curious, she paused her work to check out the newcomers. It was unusual for anyone to visit the hangar when there was no upcoming mission, and Sam knew the next departure wouldn't be until they reached the Ismar Frontier tomorrow afternoon. So, naturally, she was a little stunned by the sight the opening elevator doors revealed.

Commander Allison Shepard and Lt. Commander Ashley Williams were both dressed in outfits far different from what the specialist normally saw them in. The second human spectre had her hair tied back in its usual bun, but her officer uniform had been replaced by a tight fitting, white camisole and sports bra; the Alliance symbol emblazoned on the left shoulder. Light blue shorts completed the ensemble and Sam would by lying is she said she didn't appreciate the way the outfit accentuated her, uh, womanly assets. Still, as gorgeous as Ashley was, it was the woman standing next to her that stole the specialist's breath away.

Like her 2IC the commander's hair was done up in a tight knot, though a few rebellious strands had slipped free to frame her face. Absently Shepard reached up the brush the tufts out of her eyes, the motion stretching her torso and bringing Sam's attention to her gloriously bare abs. Although Ashley had chosen to wear two layers, Shepard had forgone a second top, choosing instead a deep red sports bra that ended just above her ribcage. Between that and the low-slinging sweatpants Traynor was hard pressed to keep her jaw off the floor. The N7 was all muscle, clearly built like a soldier that engaged in frequent, heavy combat. However, there was softness to her body as well, the hard planes of sinew giving way to gentle curves in all the right places. Sam's fingers twitched as she imagined what it would be like to trail her nails across that stomach, to feel those muscles spasm and tighten in reaction to her touch. Or if she were to take her tongue…

Tearing her gaze away from the commander's tan abdomen she violently shook her head. _Bloody hell Sam! That's your commanding officer. You can't start acting like some horny teenager just because she's wearing less than usual. _Despite her chastising thoughts, she couldn't help but sneak one more glance as the two women passed by the workbench. However, instead of getting another eyeful of luscious skin, her gaze was met with Shepard's.

Ice blue eyes stared into her brown ones for a heartbeat, a teasing look flitting across the commander's face. Then, with a wink, the sentinel turned away, laughing at something Williams said. Blushing deeply Sam spun around, nearly knocking the communications box onto the floor. Ignoring Cortez's suspicious look, she scrambled to right the circuit board; desperately hoping no one else was witness to the blunder. Keeping her head down and eyes fixated on the filthy partitions she did her best to keep her attention on the task in front of her.

Unfortunately for her neither Shepard nor Ashley seemed willing to quietly disappear. Sam had just started to brush underneath the capacitors when James' booming call rang throughout the hanger.

"Hey hey hey. Lola, Chika, what's up? You two just here for a visit, or is there something that only this shining example of masculinity can help you with?" Unable to resist, Sam raised her head slightly, just enough so that she could see the three soldiers in the edge of her vision. Vega was in his usual spot by the weapons bench, busy flexing his biceps for two very unimpressed women.

As soon as the Latino turned his back Ashley reached forward, jabbing her fingers into his shoulder and knocking him off balance. Scoffing at his attempts to right himself, she moved past him to one of the storage lockers. " I'm just here to finish something that your," she raised one hand, the fingers bent into quotation marks, " 'shining example of masculinity' couldn't." Interest now fully peaked (as if it wasn't already) Sam watched as the marine continued to dig around in the small compartment. Careful to keep from outright staring, she saw Williams pull out four rolls of wrap and toss them to Shepard. The commander caught them with ease and sat down on a nearby crate. Ashley, who had grabbed another set of wraps, soon joined her.

"Hey now, I've never left a job unfinished. How about you come play with me Lola? Papi will show the cynic here how it's done." Vega weaved back and forth, punching outwards at a nonexistent target. Shepard looked up from where she had begun to unroll the thick fabric. "I'm afraid there's only so many ways I can toss you on your ass James. Williams might not be as brawny as you but what she lacks in strength she certainly makes up for in, ah, creativity."

_Oh God. _If this conversation was going on between anyone else Sam would be convinced it was about sex. _Actually I'm not one hundred percent sure it isn't. _Once again swapping tools she kept up her discrete observation while continuing to clean the pieces of the board. Vega had retreated back to his work, leaving the two women in temporary peace. Apparently Sam had been too distracted earlier to notice that both Ashley and Shepard were barefoot, as they each were wrapping up their feet and shins before moving onto their wrists and hands. Once their extremities were appropriately padded they moved to the center of the empty landing pad, each swinging their arms and loosening up their shoulders.

_They're not going to… _She felt her blush grow even darker as the spectres stretched. Sam knew she really should leave. There was no way in the entire galaxy that she could ignore two beautiful women getting all sweaty and worked up right in front of her. Still the Normandy's comm. specialist couldn't bring herself to go, choosing instead to continue her ruse of work. Once both women were properly limber Shepard and Ashley took opposing positions, each settling into their own beginning posture.

Sam recognized Ashley's as one they learned in basic training. With her right foot forward and hands covering her face, the younger human shifted her weight back and forth, bouncing to an internal beat. Shepard's stance was different, the commander instead choosing a wide squat, her body turned slightly away from her opponent. She kept her right fist loosely near her face, while her dominant left was tucked into her side.

Ashley eyed her CO contemplatively, a small smirk on her face. " Remember, no fair using your biotics. I want to see how well you fare without your space fairy magic."

If Shepard was annoyed by the taunt, she showed no sign of it. Rolling her shoulders she gave the younger human a bored look. "I think Vega can tell you I don't need any help putting mouthy subordinates in their place."

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. Then suddenly, as if an invisible bell had rung, Ashley lunged forward, fist aimed squarely at Shepard's jaw. Dancing around the blow, the N7 attempted to twist around behind Williams. However, she was thwarted when Williams spun on her heel; the flat of her palm making striking firmly against Shepard's cheek. Giving her opponent no time to recover she pushed forward with a viscious assault of punches. Doing her best to block the blows, Shepard inched backwards, seemingly unfazed by the lost ground.

Sam was amazed at the Normady's CO's composure. She could hear each punch connecting with a solid 'thud' even from her position over a dozen feet away. While Ashley wasn't as bulky as James, she was certainly no slouch. Traynor knew that every strike was being dealt with the marine's full body, and they had to hurt.

Pausing her onslaught, Ashley feinted an uppercut and then squatted down, swinging one foot into Shepard's knees to sending her toppling. For a split second it seemed she would be victorious but then, instead of simply crumpling to the ground, Shepard leaned into the fall. Bending backwards in one fluid motion, she brought her hands to the ground and kicked outwards, catching Ashley in the chest and forcing her away. Pushing upwards from the ground, Shepard continued her spinning motion, advancing on Ashley with a series of roundhouse kicks. Neatly blocking, Ashley responded with her own, only to have Shepard dance away once again. The pace of the fight picked up substantially from there, arms and legs striking in fast succession as the two women fought for dominance.

"Nice show, isn't it?" Sam startled at Cortez's whisper in her ear. Having snuck up on her a while ago, he couldn't resist teasing her a bit. They had found each other earlier on in the Normandy's retrofit; each relieved to find someone else with a similar inclination. Even though homosexuality didn't have nearly the stigma it did a hundred years ago, there were still those that could be touchy about the subject. Despite their alliance, he still loved to watch her squirm whenever the commander was present, and often did whatever he could to exacerbate the situation.

Seeing no reason in trying to bumble through a lie when Cortez could clearly see the red smattered across her cheeks, Sam mutely nodded her head. Normally she didn't see the appeal in watching two women attempting to beat each other into submission, as it seemed brutish and degenerate. But this wasn't about who could do more bench presses, or swing a mallet with more force. This was purely about survival. It was a demonstration between squadmates on their capabilities, each one doing their best to prove they could be trusted to watch the other's back. It required as much, if not more, tactical thinking as one of the many strategy games she played.

And watching was seriously doing a number on her libido.

By now the fight was starting to take its toll on the competitors. Both soldiers were flushed with exertion and breathing heavily. Ashley's lip was split and Shepard had a shallow gash above her eyebrow, probably earned when Williams tossed her into the crates a few moments ago. Heedless of their wounds they continued to pound on each other, neither one willing to admit defeat. Then, as quickly as it began, the fight was over.

The younger spectre had once again boxed her superior into a corner, mercilessly raining down punches. Only this time, instead of retreating Shepard held her ground until Ashley was directly in front of her. Then, well Sam really couldn't be certain of what happened next. Just as Ashley took another step forward Shepard curled into herself, shoulders shifting to dig into William's midsection. Somehow she contorted her body around the other woman's, using her momentum to send Ashley airborne. Traynor's eye widened as she watched Shepard's body twist. Her imagination really, really did not need to add 'flexible' to the list of the commander's attributes.

Keeping one hand on Ashley's stomach, and the other on her shoulder, Shepard flipped her through the air and forcefully slammed her down. Hitting the floor so hard that she bounced slightly, Ashley had the breath crushed from her lungs and was unable to retaliate as she was pinned. Using her knees to hold Ashley's arms against her sides the commander sat on her chest, forearms forming an X over her opponent's throat.

For a moment neither marine moved. Then Shepard leaned back and smirked down at her pinned squadmate. "Looks like you won't be finishing anything today Williams. Pity, I was hoping you'd put up more of a challenge."

Wriggling around, but seeing no way to break free, Ashley blew out a breath in frustration. "Yeah Yeah. Play it tough all you like, but we both know you're gonna be just as sore as me tomorrow." Chuckling Shepard stood up and helped Ashley to her feet. A look of understanding passed between them, and Shepard patted her friend on the shoulder before walking away.

With a jolt Sam realized the commander was headed straight for her and Cortez. Rushing to make it look like she hadn't just been ogling her commanding officer, she fumbled with the parts scattered on the workbench. In her haste to get busy her hand knocked against the bellows and activated it, the sudden airstream sending a puff of dust and grime straight into her face. Tears sprang immediately to her eyes and she stumbled backwards as she hacked and coughed.

An arm reached out to steady her. "Jesus Traynor, if your so allergic to this stuff you really should be wearing a mask." Gripping his shoulder the specialist once again found herself struggling to catch her breath.

A second voice chimed in. "Everything okay here?"

_Please no. Not now. Not when I look like this._

Through her blurry vision Sam saw the commander's figure approach. Shepard stopped in front of the two, concerned eyes trained on Sam as she wheezed for breath.

"Commander." Cortez nodded his head in respect. Sam straightened as best she could, but her lungs refused to settle and so she was unable to give a proper answer. Lucky for her Cortez was more than willing to lend a helping hand "Specialist Traynor here is just having a bit of trouble with some dust. Seems like Tuchanka is determined to take down our crew one way or another."

"Does she need the Doctor?" The question was directed at Steve, but Shepard's eyes remained on her.

"Nah she'll be fine, just needs to stop sniffing communication circuits to see if they're dirty." Oh she was going to kill him when she could breathe again. Here they were standing next to a woman who had survived geth, thresher maws, batarian raids, rogue spectres, reapers, and death itself and he was poking fun at how she was practically choking from one whiff of dust.

Shepard hummed lightly in thought and then stepped closer, hand extended outwards. When Sam backed away in surprise, she gave her a reassuring grin. "Easy Traynor, I'm just going to help. Now hold still, this might tingle a bit."

Nervously she did as she was told, but she couldn't stop from stiffening as a gloved hand pressed against her upper chest. There was a flare of blue light, and instantly her entire respiratory system seized up. However, it last only a second and as the commander pulled away she felt the spasms subside, allowing her to breathe normally.

Shepard eyed her critically, searching for any sign of discomfort. "How's that?"

Traynor stared at her in amazement. "It's, it's wonderful. What did you do?" She took several deep inhales, relishing the fresh air.

"Nifty little biotic trick. Really useful on the battlefield for soldiers that get the wind knocked out of them." Shepard rested her hip against the bench and crossed her arms

Vaguely Sam was aware of Cortez wandering off, leaving the two of them alone. "Well I appreciate it, means I can get back to work sooner, instead of sitting here hacking up a lung."

They both laughed softly at the jest, eyes locking gaze. Shepard studied her, an unreadable expression on her face. "I'm glad, I couldn't very well stand by and let something happen to my favorite comm. specialist." She straightened. "I'd better go clean up, I can't imagine I smell very good right now."

Traynor wanted to protest. To tell the commander that she really didn't mind the musty scent of sweat, but her mind had stalled out. Shepard had called Sam her favorite specialist. Not the Normandy's, _hers. _Watching the N7's retreated form, she came to a decision. Come hell or high water she was going to do her best to win over the gentle marine who had taken root in her heart. Damn fraternization regulations and whatever wanker had thought of them in the first place. She wasn't about to let some silly rules come between her and her potential happiness.

_I hope you have your bets made Commander, because you're about to be playing a whole different kind of game. And I play for keeps. _Smiling to herselfshe resumed her work on the circuit board, but her mind was focused on a different task; how to seduce the galaxy's number one hero.

* * *

**A/N**

Woohoo done. I actually came to like this fic idea more and more as I was writing it. It has several elements in it that I think are missing from the game. Like,

How quickly Shepard and Sam go from being strangers to having hot shower sex after like 3 minutes worth of conversation. I think this plot shows a bit more of Sam's interest in Shepard, and how she comes to the decision of trying to seduce her. Also I would like to note that Allie is a complete blockhead when it comes to stuff like this. She might look like she's flirting, but really she just thinks she's being friendly (not that she doesn't want to flirt, it just doesn't occur to her that that is what's happening). Honestly it takes being whacked hard across the face with the truth (or having a stunningly beautiful naked woman in her shower with the door open) before she catches on. And I like to think Sam will take heavy advantage of that in the future.

Shepard and Ashley's reconciliation. At the point in which this story takes place neither one of them is sure of what to make of the other. They used to be really close, but the events of Mass Effect 2 and the Citadel coup really put a strain on their relationship. I think this fight was a way of them not only working out their frustrations, but also proving to each other they still are friends and teammates.

Anyway I'll be getting back to work on my drabbles, but I'm also planning to…. wait do you hear that? It almost sounds like someone whispering something….

_Review….reviewwwwwwwwwww….. Review!._

Oh yeah! As the creepy voice says, please remember to R&R, I love hearing back from readers.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **Ha! Look, look it's here! After months of planning I finally got it done.

Important note: I did make a slight change to the timeline in Chapter 1. Instead of heading to the Quarian conflict, they were going to the Ismar frontier for a random side mission. It still doesn't quite match the in-game timeline perfectly, but I've always thought that Sam and Shepard shared their first night between the attack on the Citadel and the Quarian missions. This story will mirror that as closely as I can manage.

And without further ado, onto the next chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The shuttle banked suddenly, and Sam was hard pressed to stay in her seat as she was thrown sideways. Cursing quietly and struggling to reorient her equipment, she sent out another hail to the ground team.

"Shuttle to ground team. I repeat, shuttle to ground team. Can anyone hear me?" Only static greeted her. "Damnit, where are they?"

"Any luck?" Despite piloting the shuttle through extremely hostile air, Cortez remained calm; his gentle tone reassuring her as she chased the barely-there communication signal of Shepard's party.

"No. Whatever this static is, it's more than just your basic jammer. Every time I think I've managed a lock the IP shifts and I lose it." She typed furiously at her keyboard, scarcely managing to locate the signal once again. " It's like it's actively moving their signal around and throwing in enough junk data to make a connection impossible."

An explosion rocked the shuttle, the shockwave momentarily distracting her and causing her to drop the tentative connection. "And these conditions are just perfect for concentration." She grumbled, fighting to find the elusive address for the tenth time in as many minutes.

" Well we did know the lab's security was active. Still I was hoping the ground team would have those defense cannons down by now, or at the very least destroy that jammer" Cortez's hands flew across the controls, the shuttle veering sharply to avoid the shots of the anti-aircraft guns.

"Got to admit, this facility is pretty impressive for being the Salarian equivalent to high school."

Sam hummed in response, her full attention back on the radio channels. Time was starting to run out. It had been a solid thirty minutes since they had suddenly lost contact with the ground team, an event that had sent the Normandy into near panic. For what was supposed to be a quick stop in to grab some interfacing technology for the Crucible, this mission had turned to hell quicker than a drunkard to alcohol. Sam could still remember the sinking feeling in her stomach as she had watched Shepard's and the other's vitals vanish from her screen, all communication disconnecting in an instant.

That in itself hadn't been terribly unusual. But in the following moments as Cortez reported the cannon's activation, and Edi announced the presence of Reaper troops, that sinking feeling had steadily grown into full-blown fear. But Sam had shoved it down, and continued doing everything she could to get the comm channels back open. After several failed hails from orbit, the specialist had suggested that she try from a closer proximity to the facility, serving as a sort of go-between between the ground team and the Normandy. It had only taken very little to convince LtCdr. Williams that it was their best chance to reach Shepard, and a short while later found her seated inside the Kodiak.

Scanning the data streams, Sam caught sight of a familiar code and quickly zeroed in on it. "Hold on, I've got something." she said, negotiating the static around the IP and locking in onto the address. "Yes! There, 30 degrees west of our current location, I've got friendlies."

As Cortez steered the shuttle to the coordinates, she opened a comm line. "Shuttle to ground team. Do you read?"

It took a few seconds, but a garbled voice answered back. "Rooks that you? Aren't you supposed to be reading emails or something?"

Sam laughed in relief. "Something like that Vega, just had to come find a couple of scatterbrained marines first." If Vega was joking around like that then the situation must not be too severe.

A second voice chipped in. "Is Shepard with you?" _On the other hand… _

"You mean she's not with you?" The sinking feeling was back again, now even stronger.

"Nope," Vega grunted. Distantly Sam heard the sound of gunfire.

"We were separated from her shortly after the defenses activated." Garrus chipped in, voice muffled by the shots of his sniper rifle. "She hit the wrong damn button and sent the whole place into lockdown. Since then we've been trying to find the jammer and shut it down."

"Do you have any idea of her location?" Cortez asked.

"Last we knew she was going to continue into the facility and retrieve the data. The idea was that we would have the jammer down by then, but you can see how well that is working out." Garrus let out a grunt of effort, and a grenade exploded in the background.

"Then we have some idea of where to start looking. Traynor, see if you can get a fix on her; Garrus, Mr. Vega, I've got a visual on you but we've gotta take these AA's down before I can do a pickup." Cortez continued to rattle off orders, and Sam tuned him out as she once again lost herself in the data stream in front of her. The boys would handle the cannons; she needed to focus on finding the commander.

Pulling up Vega's and Garrus' vitals she integrated them into the shuttle's systems and then sent out an inquiry to Shepard's armor's VI. Since the three suits were transmitting on the same channel, she should be able to extrapolate Shepard's location by using the signals from the other two. However, the inquiry came up blank, the error message reading that the suit was currently offline. Again she tried, mind racing to find a solution when screen continued to flash red.

_Even with the jammer blocking the suit-to-suite radio, the inquiry is still going through. So the problem's not that the signal isn't reaching Shepard, just that the rebound isn't strong enough for our systems to grab ahold of. _She was so concentrated on finding an answer that she heard neither the shouts of "Booyah!" and "Alright!" as the AA cannons exploded, nor the whoosh of the shuttle hatch as it opened. _What we need to do is somehow strengthen the initial connection so that the rebound can be picked up just like a…_

"That's it!" She exclaimed, bolting up from her seat and nearly crashing into Vega as he entered the cockpit.

"Woah there, what's the rush?" He asked as she ducked underneath his elbow and headed for one of the control panels.

"I think I know how we can find Shepard." Pulling the casing off she reached inside and tugged a few wires free. Swapping them around, she used her free hand to enter new protocol into the shuttle's systems.

"Hey what are you doing to my ship?" Cortez asked.

"Nothing that can't be undone, so don't start whining." After a few more lines of code she closed the panel back up again. Activating her omni-tool she synched it to her scanning equipment and opened a comm line to the Normandy.

"Edi, you there? I need some help with this." A test run confirmed her changes were working. Pushing past a confused Garrus she moved to the shuttle's comm screen and aligned it to the same channel as Shepard's hardsuit.

"How can I be of assistance, Specialist Traynor?" Edi's voice echoed throughout the shuttle, and, despite the situation, Sam felt herself smile a bit at the silvery tone.

" I've just finished configuring the shuttle to pick up on the ultrasonic waves of a resource scanner. I need you to send a pulse, using the shuttle as a probe marker." Tapping at her omni-tool she opened a continuous inquiry loop to Shepard's hardsuit.

"The UT-47A Kodiak is not designed to handle that type of transmission. There is a 37% chance it will overload—"

"It'll be fine Edi. We just need it to work long enough to find Shepard." Preparations complete, Sam reopened her communications screen. "I'm all set, this should be powerful enough to bypass the jammer and let me locate her signal."

"Very well. Activating probe in 3…2…1." Keeping a close eye on the screen, Sam tracked the progress of the pulse as it swept through their channels. Ignoring Cortez's whispered curses as the shuttle shivered in protest, she scrutinized every piece of data, praying that one of them would be the commander's IP. Seconds passed, then a minute, still nothing appeared.

"Probe has failed." Edi announced.

"Do it again." Sam demanded

"That is not recommended. Shuttle efficiency has dropped 15%. Chance of overload has increased to 48%." The AI said.

"I said again Edi." Even thought she was technically the lowest rank present, Sam's tone brooked no argument. This would work, it had to work; she didn't know what they would do otherwise.

"…Understood. Standby for probe activation in 3…2...1."

Holding her breath Sam again searched the endless stream of data for any sign of the commander. Once more the pulse faded, precious time slipping by as she looked for any sign at all that they had made a connection.

Heart pounding in her chest, she was just about to order another pulse when an abnormality in the data caught her attention. It was almost nothing; a fragment that she would usually just scroll past, but her gut was telling her it was what she was looking for. Locking in on the stream she pinged it, and nearly jumped for joy when the line cleared to reveal Shepard's vitals.

"Found it! Her location is reading as 2 clicks south of here, near the upper level of that tower. It looks like she's moving in our direction." Sam said.

"All right Rooks! Now there's a squint who knows what she's doing." Vega clapped her on the shoulder, nearly sending her toppling.

"Easy there Mr. Vega, we still need her to get in contact with the Commander." Cortez chastised as he piloted off in the direction Sam had indicated.

"And we're not out of the woods yet. There are still Reaper troops around, and if I know Shepard she's probably neck deep in them by now." Garrus added, popping one thermal clip and loading another.

"I agree, which is why it would be wonderful if you all would shut up and let me focus on opening a communications line to her." Sam said. Getting Shepard's location was a huge step forward, but she still had to find a way around the jammer like she had earlier.

"Uh-oh. We've got a problem." Cortez's warning interrupted her work, and she glanced over at him.

"Another one? Really, do all our missions have to be like this?" Sam let out a frustrated sigh.

"Apparently so. We've reached Shepard's coordinates, but the wall is collapsed, so we can't do a pick-up from here. I can see another possible EZ, but it's on the other side of the building."

" But she's headed in the opposite direction, and I still haven't gotten in contact with her." The comm specialist was seriously getting tired of the game of cat-and-mouse she kept playing with Shepard's IP address.

" Maybe you don't need to get a response in order for her to hear you." Vega said from his position behind her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well when we were still trying to make contact there were a few times when we heard your hails, but they were severely distorted." Garrus continued. " I bet it's the same for Shepard."

Thinking on it for a moment, Sam decided that it was worth a try and so she entered the most recent place she had seen the IP, and opened a line. "Go ahead and get us over to the veranda, Cortez, I'll do my best to reach the Commander."

"Understood, I'll move us into position. ETA one minute."

Taking a deep breath, Sam calmed her raging nerves and spoke into the mic. "Shuttle to ground team. I repeat shuttle to ground team. Commander Shepard we have a fix on your location and are moving for a pick-up. The balcony closest to you is a no go. I repeat, you need to turn around and head to the opposite side of the building. Approximately half-way there is area suitable for pick-up."

Pausing for a moment, she watched in dismay as Shepard's locator continued to move away from them. Thinking fast, she activated the shuttle's power cells and re-routed all extra power to the comm channel. "Cortez I'm stealing your backup power to amp our signal. Hopefully it'll get through this time."

A few keystrokes later and she had the newly powered line open. "Shuttle to Commander Shepard. Commander we have your location and are preparing for a pick-up. There is a large veranda opposing your current position. If you turn around now you should reach it the same time we do. I repeat..."

Over and over she repeated the message, desperately hoping that Shepard was receiving despite getting nothing but static in response. Then, just about the same time the shuttle reached the EZ, the commander's locator paused, and slowly, started to move in the other direction.

Relief washing over her, Sam began to announce the good results. "She's turning around, I think she….oh you bloody wanker." The specialist wasn't sure if it was a glitch in the system, or just her fantastic luck that caused her to lose sight of Shepard's IP, but either way it sent her scrambling to reconnect.

"What's wrong?" asked Garrus.

"I've completely lost her signal, tracker and all." Grasping at straws, she was forced to give up when the scanner in front of her completely blanked out, all data points corrupting into nonsense. "Damnit, now I'm not even sure what I'm looking at." Sam slammed her palms against the panel in frustration.

"It would seem that the jammer has evolved to counter your work around, Specialist Traynor. Apparently the Salarians programed it to adapt against any attempt to communicate with those within the walls of their facility." Edi added after running a scan of her own.

"Looks like we're just going to have to trust that Shepard's on her way. Come on Vega, it sounds like we have some fans waiting to meet us outside." Priming the Kodiak's Gatling gun, Garrus took the control seat, and nodded at Cortez to open the hatch.

Sam had barely enough time to retreat to the safety of the cockpit before the air lit up with enemy fire. Fortunately the shields held, sparing the Kodiak any damage, and she watched in fascination as the turian expertly aimed and fired the bulky machine gun. Not to be left out of the action, Vega took up her previous position, periodically leaning out of cover to fire shots of his own.

They continued for several minutes, and just as Sam was starting to doubt that her message had gotten through after all, Vega called out. "Hold up. There's unusual movement back by the doors." Sure enough, no sooner than Sam had looked out the window, then she saw a violent pulse of blue energy light up the battlefield.

Racing onto the balcony, the armored figure slammed directly into a group of cannibals; biotics flaring outwards to send them flying over the edge. Vaguely Sam was aware of Garrus retracting the Gatling gun, and Vega providing cover fire, but most of her attention was on the N7 as she blew through the Reapers.

After dealing with the cannibals, Shepard came face to face with a growling brute. The turian-krogan hybrid nearly swept the commander off her feet, but a well-timed dodge followed by a biotic lash thwarted its attempt. Somersaulting around the beast, the N7 slapped a grenade onto the beast's unprotected backside, and then bolted forward to get clear of the blast range.

Continuing towards the shuttle, the Alliance marine had just cleared an onslaught of husks when she was pushed into cover by several marauders. Pinned down on all sides, she was forced to try and take them down one at a time with her pistol.

"Come on Shepard, let's go!" Garrus shouted as he joined Vega at the door to the shuttle.

"We ain't got all day Lola!" Vega added while firing at the marauders surrounding her.

Confused by the urgency in their tone, Sam peeked around the corner of the cockpit's partition. She was startled to see the Reapers much closer than before, clearly trying to prevent the commander's escape.

Apparently she wasn't the only one concerned. From behind her crate, Shepard's omni-tool lit up, the brief flicker momentarily followed by the sizzling sound of the marauder's guns overheating. Taking advantage of the brief pause in fire, Shepard leapt from cover; her entire body lighting up with biotics as she focused.

"Oh shit. Get down!" Vega yelled as he jumped away from the door, his huge form moving to block the cockpit. Moments later Sam found out why.

Charging into the shuttle, Shepard's form was little more than a blur of biotics. The blue power filled the enclosed space, knocking Vega forward and sending Sam flailing into Cortez's chair. An instant later there was a loud _thud _as the commander collided with the opposite wall; the heavy metal doing it's part to stop her movement.

Surprisingly unfazed by the near explosion in the Kodiak, Cortez closed the hatch door and powered up the jets. "Shuttle to Normandy, we have the Commander on board. Preparing ascent now."

"Holy hell Lola, you sure know how to make an entrance." Vega said. Recovering from her stumble, Sam walked into the body of the shuttle and joined him.

"Yeah well you said to hurry it up. Not my fault you can't handle a little friendly fire." Waving off Garrus' offer of help, the commander chose to remain sitting on the floor of shuttle, not far from where she had impacted with the wall. Reaching up she began to unclasp her helmet.

"Hah, you wish that was enough to take me down. I was referring to Rooks and Esteban over here, its not like they go wandering about with heavy armor like us." Vega shrugged in Sam's direction, leading Shepard to give her a confused look.

"Traynor? What are you doing here? I heard you over the comms, but I thought you were back on the Normandy."

Sam was about to reply, but paused as the commander finished removing her helmet. Unsure of what to say, she was spared when Garrus spoke up in her stead. "Uh Shepard, you've got a little something leaking out of you nose."

"What?" Shepard swiped a gloved hand across her face. Seeing a gleam of red on the black metal she cursed and brought her hand back to her nose. "Shit." Leaning back she attempt to stop the stream of blood by tilting her head into the air. "Shit shit shit. Looks like I overdid it. Chakwas is going to kill me."

"Hang on Commander." Empathizing with Shepard's situation (she was no stranger to nosebleeds) Sam moved to kneel next to the N7, pulling out a clean handkerchief from the pockets of her fatigues. "Leaning back like that is only going to make it worse. Here, move your hand." Giving no thought to the fact that Shepard was her superior officer, Sam bundled the cloth around her hand and then pressed it firmly to the other woman's nose. Gently gripping the marine's head with her other hand; she encouraged her to lean forward until her chin was pressed against her breastplate. "Now just breathe slowly through your mouth. It should stop soon." Hearing chuckles behind her she turned to glare at the men present.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about how it's a good thing you came along. Otherwise we would be lost in that maze of Salarian hell, and Shepard would be bleeding to death." Garrus said while doing a poor job of controlling his guffaws. Next to him Vega wasn't even trying to hide his amusement.

"Shove it Vakarian." Snapped Shepard, though the retaliatory effect was largely ruined by the nasally tone her voice had taken. Sending the turian a scathing glare instead, she turned back to the specialist. "Though he is right. Looks like you've saved the day again Traynor." She gave as much of a smile as she could manage in her current position.

Seeing Shepard's grateful look, Sam felt a blush rise over her cheeks. The commander's lips brushed against the cloth bundled around her hand, and she became acutely aware of just how close the two of them were.

Suddenly nervous, she stuttered out a reply. "Just returning the favor, Commander." Fumbling with embarrassment, she started to pull away.

"I think it's slowed down, here just hold the cloth like this." Grabbing Shepard's hand she replaced her own with it and then retreated to a safe distance. With her back turned, she missed the look of disappointment on the commander's face as she severed their contact.

An awkward silence fell over the group, but before it could get too uncomfortable, Edi called to them through the comms. "Commander Shepard, were you successful in retrieving the data?"

"Yeah Edi, the bypass that the scientists provided worked like a charm. The data is loaded on my omni-tool. Transmitting now." Shepard inelegantly activated the orange screen and Sam nearly laughed at the sight. She really should take a photo, because it wasn't everyday that you got to see the great Commander Shepard sprawled out on the floor of a shuttle, one hand holding a bloody handkerchief to her nose, and the other alight with her omni-tool as she jabbed at it with her elbow.

"Transmission received, downloading now. Commander, I also have a message from Dr. Chakwas. She requests to see you immediately after you return to the Normandy."

The soldiers on either side of Sam began to snigger, and even the specialist covered a soft giggle with her hand at the downtrodden look on Shepard's face. "I'll give it consideration Edi, I have other things to attend to."

"Chakwas wishes to inform you that this visit is not optional. Her exact words were, "Tell Shepard that I'd better see her the instant she gets off that shuttle or I'm going to chase her down and sedate her with the largest needle available. You would do well to remind her that I still have some of Mordin's supplies from when he was working on Eve."" Now Sam did break down into full-on laughter, joined heartily by everyone but the N7. Seems like even Commander Shepard could be cowed by threats of massive hypodermic needles.

"Understood," Shepard groused. "Let Chakwas know I'll report to the medbay first thing."

Disconnecting, she turned to scowl at her crew. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. See if I help the next time she drags one of you in for a check-up."

"I don't know Commander, my visits to the medbay are always very pleasant. Perhaps there's another reason why you hate check-ups so much." Sam teased, unable to get the image of the commander's face at the mention of Mordin's needles out of her head.

"Oh you want to go, Traynor?" Shepard lifted her free arm. "Then come on over here, I got some dust in the vents of my suit, maybe you can clean it out for me?" The glint in Shepard's eye let Sam know she was joking, and she shared a smile with the marine.

"I think not. Otherwise, who would be around to find your arse the next time you go and get yourself lost in a high school?" The specialist shot back. Shepard's eyes softened at her jest, and Sam found herself meeting the gaze of kind, blue eyes.

"Guess we'd be in a bit of a pickle without you. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'm glad to have you aboard Specialist Traynor." Shepard said, voice calmed with sincere thankfulness.

Sam flushed red. About to refute the compliment, she stopped herself upon remembering Shepard's earlier chastisement. Instead she grinned back and replied. "It's my pleasure, Commander."

And then, just as the shuttle finished docking in the cargo bay of the Normandy and everyone moved to exit, Sam could've sworn she saw a light blush cover Shepard's cheeks. Watching as Vega helped the commander up and out the hatch, a single thought crossed her mind:

_Well, that was interesting. _

* * *

**A/N**

Well there you go, chapter 2. I was hoping to accomplish quite a bit in this chapter, and I really do like the way it turned out.

The first thing was addressing Traynor's position on the Normandy. I know her job is actually really complicated engineering stuff, but it can be hard to incorporate it in a story, especially for someone who has minimal knowledge of communications. As such I spent hours researching terms and functions of scanning/communication equipment, and I'm still sure most of what I've written above probably doesn't make sense if you know anything about communications. Still, I really wanted to give Traynor's skills a chance to shine, and I hope I did her some justice. If you happen to know more on the topic, or where I can find more info, please send me a message.

The other point of sending her out onto the shuttle was to give credence to her being a really important member of the Normandy. Without her around, even Edi would have trouble breaking down the barriers to communication, not to mention figuring out what information is important, and what is not.

Finally, it's another chance for Traynor and Shepard's relationship to get a bit more complex. Here, Shepard really gets a look at what Traynor is capable of, and Sam gets to see a side of Allie most don't normally notice. Also, our wonderfully blockheaded N7 might finally be catching on to her attraction to the Comm Specialist, but you'll have to read more to see how she handles it.

Just some fun side notes:

Those of you who also read my 100 drabble fic might have noticed my fondness for sticking grenades to brute's butts. This mostly comes from my experiences in multiplayer, where I found that doing this can get you some pretty easy kills. It's also rather fun to do.

Like I said last chapter, Allie is a Sentinel, and acts mostly according to the game version of her class. However, I like to think all biotic Shepards can use techniques like charge and lash, it just takes a bit more out of them. This is why Allie gets the nosebleed, and why (as you'll see) she needs some recovery time after this mission. Trying to rush forward like she did really put a strain on her body, and she'll suffer for it later. Also a fun note, she's a fairly crap shot, not as bad as my Adept Shepard, but certainly not any good like my Soldier and Infiltrator.

And that's all. I hope you enjoyed it, and remember feedback/discussion is always welcome.

P.S. For those on , just review or send me a pm. And for those visiting from tumblr, leave me an ask on my blog, because ff doesn't let me reply to visitor reviews. For anyone who would like to know, my tumblr is here:


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